1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a ratchet wrench, more particularly to a ratchet wrench with a direction control ratchet member for controlling the direction of driven rotation of an adapter when turning a workpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional ratchet wrench is shown to include a handle 1 which has a box end with an inner circular wall 1c that defines a hole 1a. An adapter 2 is mounted in the hole 1a, and has an inner engaging wall 2b for engaging a workpiece, such as a screw nut or the head of a screw (not shown), to be turned, and an outer toothed surface 2a. A receiving groove 1b is formed in the inner peripheral wall 1c, and extends toward an outer peripheral wall 1d for receiving a ratchet member 4 and a spring 3. The ratchet member 4 has a plurality of ratchet teeth 4a for ratchet coupling with the toothed surface 2a by the biasing action of the spring 3. As such, the adapter 2 can be operated to turn the workpiece only when the handle 1 is rotated in a certain direction, i.e. in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 1.
Once it is desired to turn the workpiece in an opposite direction, the entire handle 1 must be reversed by a 180-degree angle, thereby resulting in inconvenience during use. In addition, due to the limitation of the circular wall 1c, it is difficult to form the receiving groove 1b.